Team have eyes fixed on keeping residents safe
North Lanarkshire Council’s awardwinning community safety team has captured more than 6000 incidents in 18 months.
These include helping to locate missing people, alerting police to a man armed with a knife and providing evidence to court, as the group play a significant role in reducing the level of disorder and antisocial behaviour in the region’s communities.
Operating 1288 cameras, 24 hours a day, the former Town Centre Activities (TCA) Ltd, which included public space CCTV monitoring and the antisocial behaviour out of hours service, was brought in-house and delivered through the community safety hub within the housing solutions service from April 1, 2019.
During its first 18 months the team has passed 975 environmental incidents, including details of fly-tipping, to environmental protection officers; assisted missing person enquiries and used CCTV to help find 339 missing people; recorded and acted on 823 incidents within towers and lowrise properties; produced and provided 1028 evidence discs to the procurator fiscal service as evidence; and relayed CCTV images to support the council’s resilience capacity during major incidents, adverse weather or other emergencies.
Tonia McBurnie, housing solutions manager, said: “Our CCTV monitoring is all about making sure our communities and housing areas are as safe and secure as possible.
“It is very encouraging to see the positive impact this has had on helping to reduce crime levels, curb antisocial behaviour and provide support for vulnerable people.
“The system has also been invaluable in helping us to trace lost individuals and those suffering from medical conditions who needed urgent support.
“The use of our CCTV service is supported by residents. A recent survey shows that 84 per cent of people believe antisocial behaviour and crime would rise without their use and residents also commented that they feel cameras increase community confidence.
“By aligning our antisocial response day team and public protection team, we’ve enhanced our operations, strengthening our information and knowledge sharing and improving public safety.
“We’ll continue to work closely with our partners, including the emergency services, all sharing the same commitment and determination to look after and support our local residents and keep our communities safe.”
Other incidents recorded include a vehicle observed driving erratically and seen striking temporary traffic signs.
The vehicle was followed through various CCTV systems and traced to registered keepers address.
Police found large quantity of drugs in the vehicle and the driver was reported for possession with intent to supply and driving under the influence of drugs.